Redemption of Cursed Seals

The encounter at the mountain stronghold was probably just an accident.

Afterward, Sosuke had brought his teammates along to investigate, even having Shū monitor the area closely from the shadows.

In the end, they saw no one entering or leaving, indicating the Black-Robed Man had completely abandoned that mountain stronghold.

"Sarutobi Kiyoshi." The Youth remembered that name; he would one day personally collect that guy's points.

After that, Sosuke's mission journey went relatively smoothly, with hardly any encounters with enemies too strong to overcome.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye. When he welcomed the New Year's bell, three pitch-black Tomoe suddenly appeared on his neck.

Sosuke had finally completed the exchange for the Curse Mark, greatly enhancing his strength beyond its original foundation.

[Curse Mark, Item Grade B, Exchange requires 6000 points.]

A full six thousand points—his heart ached as he spent them, but thankfully this item's effectiveness was high, finally soothing his wounded spirit.

[Name: Uchiha Sosuke]

[Age: Eight]

[Physical Strength: Genin]

[Mental Strength: Jonin]

[Chakra Amount: Chunin]

[Special Abilities: Sharingan (Two Tomoe), Curse Mark]

[Ninja Tools: Short Sword]

[Summoning Beast: None]

[Points: 1450]

At eight years old, his physical strength was still in its normal developmental stage.

Though his height kept growing, until he entered his rapid growth period, Taijutsu remained his most fatal weakness.

In contrast, his mental strength growth could only be described as terrifying.

When the two souls had fully merged, he already possessed mental strength rivaling a Jonin.

As Sosuke's age gradually increased, his mental strength would continue to rise, though it was unlikely to make such a shocking leap again.

His Chakra amount rivaled a Chunin, an indirect benefit of his mental strength growth—a good thing, since no one in the world would complain about having too much Chakra.

Finally, there was his bankrupting purchase: the Curse Mark.

Sosuke had tested it carefully; for now, he could only maintain Curse Mark State One, where patterns covered his body's surface.

In this state, he could face Captain-level enemies head-on, whether he could kill them depending on their respective improvisation.

As for Curse Mark State Two, every time he used it, he felt a tearing pain throughout his body, indicating his body wasn't yet fit for its conditions.

Forcing its use wasn't impossible, but the aftermath would likely be crippling, requiring a huge amount of points to fully repair.

Unless it was a life-or-death moment, Sosuke wouldn't easily resort to Curse Mark State Two.

"Left with fifteen hundred points, back to being broke."

After his battle with Sarutobi Kiyoshi, Sosuke had realized the importance of weapons for the first time.

If he'd had a suitable weapon, he wouldn't have been suppressed by the enemy to the point of being helpless.

Initially, he thought about exchanging directly from the system—nothing too fancy, just a simple Kusanagi Sword would do.

But the price made Sosuke's head spin, so he gave up on the idea of exchanging weapons.

He'd stick with what he had for now; when the opportunity came, he could personally visit the Land of Iron. The blacksmiths there were the best in the Hokage World and might provide what he wanted.

As for his next exchange target, Sosuke already had some ideas.

[Flying Thunder God Technique (Stage One), Item Grade A, Exchange requires 8500 points.]

An A-grade item worth 8500 points: the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Once he possessed space-time abilities, he would fear no type of strong enemy.

If he couldn't win, he could easily escape; trapping and killing him would be as hard as reaching the heavens.

Combined with Shadow Clone, Sosuke's personal safety factor would increase by hundreds or thousands of times.

Unfortunately, even after completing the exchange, he could only master the first stage of Flying Thunder God.

Simply put, it was a direct leap from point A to point B, with the transfer target needing to be a fixed coordinate.

When he reached Flying Thunder God Second Stage, like Minato's fight against the Masked Man, he could follow moving spatial coordinates and transfer along with them.

Only then would it have real practical combat value.

Otherwise, once an enemy learned of Flying Thunder God's intel, they'd just need to watch out for nearby Kunai, and he couldn't suddenly close in on them.

Even so, Sosuke unhesitatingly chose to exchange for Flying Thunder God—this thing had powerful strategic significance, and its help to him wasn't limited to combat alone.

It was just that 8500 points were a bit expensive; he probably wouldn't save up that much savings anytime soon.

Besides personal strength, Sosuke never slackened in training his subordinates.

Having learned the Shadow Clone Training Method, Uchiha Shū's strength was rapidly increasing.

Relying on his astonishing willpower, the youth forcibly set aside both mental and physical exhaustion, training every day at a state close to his limits.

His combat experience surged, and his blade technique was now more than ten times stronger than half a year ago.

Every so often, Uchiha Shū would also be forced to undergo Sosuke's genjutsu tests.

Clearly, he intended to use the method of awakening the fear buried deep in the heart to help Shū forcibly unlock the Sharingan.

As for the specific results, they were still far from ideal for now, but Sosuke didn't seem discouraged in the slightest.

Wasn't it just unlocking the Sharingan? Once he found suitable scientific talent and learned the Gene Transplantation Technique, he wouldn't have to worry about not being able to open a mere pair of Sharingan.

After instructing Uchiha Shū to continue training, Sosuke frequently went out alone to complete the missions that suited him.

On the other side, the Fūma Clan began to provoke relentlessly, often attacking Uchiha clan members without any reason.

Having suffered losses in battle, the Uchiha naturally refused to back down. What started as small-scale skirmishes between the two sides gradually evolved into organized offensive and defensive battles.

To justify their actions, the Fūma Clan seized on Sosuke as a focal point, incessantly accusing the youth of indiscriminate murder.

In response, the Uchiha kept taunting, claiming that the Fūma Clan had to rely on forcing the virtuous into prostitution to make a living.

As for what Sosuke himself thought, neither side really cared; they just needed a plausible excuse.

Most of the time, no one could guarantee they would survive to the end.

If the war was lost, and they had spoken too arrogantly beforehand, it would be easy to dig a pit for themselves to fall into.

Since both sides wanted to fight, the reason didn't really matter anymore.

From the current situation, the Uchiha held an absolute advantage in localized conflicts.

The only thing they needed to worry about now was Fūma Eiichirō—that terrifyingly powerful man who, once placed on the battlefield, was a pure killing machine.

For a long time now, Corps Commander Uchiha Shinya had rarely chosen to go out, all so he could wait for the other party at any moment.

Finally, he received the long-awaited news.

That renowned powerhouse had personally arrived on the battlefield.